Impressions Matter

One of the first things anyone notices when they walk into a room is the floors. I don’t know why we do it, we just do it. It must be biologically ingrained in us to do a visual check of our surroundings in case of impending danger. Floors can be pretty scary, you know…..black scuff marks, hairy floors, and wait for it….. a dull shine.

Okay, all kidding aside, the appearance of your floors can and will dictate your reputation, and unless you want your first impression to be your last, it’s essential your floors are kept in prime condition.

Protecting Your Investment

Picking the type of flooring in a home or business is one of the hardest decisions you make. After you look at 101 samples and agonized over the cost, you finally settle on the best flooring for your situation, when they hand you a pamphlet outlining the proper care and maintenance for your flooring. You open it up and immediately see words like “stripping,” “burnishing,” and “auto scrubbing.” Wait? I thought we were talking about floors here? Don’t worry, Forte has you covered.

Below is a guide defining each type of floor cleaning service available in the cleaning industry. It also shows what types of floor cleaning services are appropriate for your floor type.

Proper care and maintenance of your floors will not only protect your investment, but it will also make daily cleaning easier, prolong the life of our flooring, and boost employee morale. With Forte, we make protecting your investment our top priority and can offer a variety of floor cleaning services for all different kinds of flooring.

Hard Floor Stripping & Refinishing

Hard floor stripping is exactly what it sounds like. You completely strip away or remove all of the old wax, soil and debris off of the floor until you reach the original flooring. Once a floor has been thoroughly stripped, then the floor cleaning service would thoroughly scrubbed. After a neutral rinse, several coats of high solid wax is applied to the floor, making sure there is adequate cure time between each coat.

This is one of the most labor intensive and time consuming jobs in the floor cleaning services industry and depending on the foot traffic and the expectation level, this should only need to be done every 1-2 years. Many people refer to this procedure as a “strip and wax.” Our floor cleaning team can make recommendations based on their training and experience.

Scrub & Recoat

A deep scrub and recoat is basically a scaled down version of stripping and refinishing. Instead of stripping a floor down to its original flooring, a floor cleaning service can scrub the top coats, which are the first 1 or 2 layers, and the recoat. This can be accomplished one of two ways.

One method of scrubbing is to use an automatic floor scrubber equipped with an abrasive scrub pad to remove the top coats of finish. After a deep scrubbing using a neutral floor cleaner, the floor is rinsed, and refinished with 2-3 coats of high quality wax. The floor cleaning service would then buff the floor to an optimal shine.

The second method is to scrub the floor as mentioned above, and then use a floor scrubber to heat up the topcoats of wax and redistribute it evenly.

No matter the amount of foot traffic, any floor will start to look dull and lose its original shine over time. A deep scrub and recoat is an effective way to provide the optimal shine while also extending the life of your floors in between strips.

Auto Scrubbing or “Deep Scrub”

Auto scrubbing is not actually a cleaning service but a type of cleaning equipment. An auto scrubber is a floor cleaning machine for large floor areas. With just one pass over the floor, the auto scrubber applies a cleaning solution, scrubs the floor, rinses the floor and vacuums up any residual water and dirt. Auto scrubbers wash your floors in a fraction of the time it would take using a traditional mop and bucket.

Auto scrubbing or a deep scrub can be used daily in buildings with large surface areas.

Tile Scrubbing & Grout Cleaning

Tile scrubbing or tile cleaning is usually a fancy way of saying high pressure steam cleaning for tile and grout. Using a floor machine with heat, high pressurized water and/or a cleaning solution, the machine scrubs and rinses the tile and grout along with extracting any excess water. This process has the ability to reach deep within the porous surface in places a mop could never reach.

Depending on the type of foot traffic and/or the expectation level, this can be done on an as needed basis.

Carpet & Upholstery

Professional carpet and upholstery cleaning companies use several different ways to clean carpets which you can read about here. The most common methods though are hot water extraction (aka steam cleaning) and the shampoo method.

Hot water extraction or “steam cleaning” actually has nothing to do with steam. Floor cleaning teams condition the floor with a cleaning solution which helps to lift soils, stains, and dirt from the fibers within your carpet. Then using highly pressurized water that has been heated near its boiling point, the water is sprayed through a cleaning tool or wand to clean the carpets. After a few minutes, the cleaning solution and some excess water is vacuumed up.

The shampoo method also involves spraying a cleaning solution onto the carpet to help to lift dirt and soil. Then using a carpet cleaning machine equipped with a rotating brush, begins to agitate the floor helping to loosen dirt while also foaming up the cleaning solution that was applied. After a few minutes, the cleaning solution along with some of the excess water is vacuumed up.

The type of foot traffic will determine what the appropriate time intervals between cleanings should be. Whether it’s daily spot maintenance or bi-annual carpet cleaning services, Forte can customize a floor cleaning service appropriate for your carpets. Green carpet cleaning and chemical-free work is available.

Hard Floor Polishing- Buffing & Burnishing

Hard floor polishing, buffing, and burnishing all help to maintain the same thing- the shine of your floor. The main difference between buffing and burnishing is the “shine.”

With buffing, a spray cleaning solution is applied to the floor and then buffed using either a low or high speed buffer with special floor pads. A low speed floor buffer runs at approximately 175rpm (rotations per minute) or less and a high speed runs as high as 1500rpms. Floor buffers are best for helping to renew the luster and smoothness of your floor but they cannot create the glossy wet-look of burnishing.

Floor burnishers are used in the same method as buffers but they apply more heat and pressure to a floor allowing for that wet look shine. Floor burnishers also run at a higher speed than floor buffers and can range from 1000 to 3000rpm.

Depending on the type of foot traffic and/or the expectation level, buffing and burnishing can be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, or even as needed basis. Our team members can make floor cleaning recommendations based on their training and experience.

Pressure Washing

Pressure washing or “power washing” is the process of using a high pressure jet stream or spray of water through a wand or nozzle similar to your garden hose, to clean surfaces and objects. Pressure washers have an attachment near the spray nozzle that allows it to work with or without a cleaning solvent. This method or service of floor cleaning is very effective and efficient at removing soils and stains from a myriad of different floor types.

This procedure is usually done on an as needed basis unless specified on a particular floor cleaning schedule.

Ready to make a statement with your floors? Call Forte today for all of your floor cleaning services! (619) 542-0404